My personal take on the GDA Mark AU
-Same as most GDA Mark aus, Nolan kills Debbie and dips when Mark is about 9
-He doesn't get his powers until he's 17 like the show, leading to a complicated series of events
-Cecil is technically Mark's foster father, but he spends a lot of time at GDA headquarters, leaving Mark to himself most of the time
-(The only exception to this is Cecil having Donald babysit, but that stops when Mark is around 13)
-Mark spends the first two years with Cecil having lots of tests done, mainly to figure out what powers he has
-The tests slow down to around once a year when Cecil realizes Mark doesn't have powers
-(this also coincides with Cecil spending less time with Mark, because Cecil views Mark as less of a threat and therefor less in need of his attention)
-I do like the idea of Radcliffe bringing Rex around when Mark is younger for play dates/trying to awaken Mark's powers, but it's always very supervised visits
-Basically what I'm saying is that in this AU Mark is a latchkey kid
-Rather than want to work for the GDA, Mark instead was inspired by the first responders in The Incident to become an EMT when he grows up! (It's like being a real life superhero!)
-Everyone is shocked when Mark gets his powers
-Mark's dreams of being an EMT are officially dead when he breaks the 50th CPR dummy trying to regulate his super strength :(
-Suddenly Mark is getting a lot of attention, especially from his absent-father-figure, which brings up complicated feelings for him
-Add to this the whole Amanda vs Eve thing, only with the narrative metaphor of Amanda as Mark's desire for a normal life and Eve as Mark's excitement to get something he didn't know he still wanted turned up to 11
-Mark loves being a superhero because it lets him help people, but he's less into beating bad guys and more into rescue-type missions
-Mark is very skeptical of Cecil and the GDA, he views Cecil as dishonest and untrustworthy due to all the times he was let down by Cecil (he still follows orders because he fundamentally views the GDA as a force for good)
-Overall this Mark's personality is a lot like canon Mark, with the caveat of a bit more maturity, independence, and knowledge on rescue protocols
-Oh also Mark has a dedicated team tasked with spying on him since he was 9 who he's friends with. They're like his honorary aunts/uncles. Except they're spying on him obv. Mark's perception of what's normal childcare is really skewed.
